outside of charlotte. we have reaction from phylicia's friends. >> reporter: people have been holding their breath here for a long, long time. this is the school where phylicia went and was well liked. we talked with parents here today who told us, obviously, they are relieved there is finally an answer. we also spoke with a very close family friend who was also a mentor of sorts. he also said he is finally glad someone is under arrest. >> reporter: he clutched the picture of the 12-year-old girl smiling back at him and searched for the right words. >> there's a little's in my life. >> reporter: peace but a horrible price. a year and a half of waiting and wondering after the girl he worked with had been murdered. >> mr. johnson has been arrested. >> reporter: long before the

prosecutor in baltimore announced that michael johnson had been arrested and charged with phylicia barnes's murder, patterson suspected it was he. johnson's story that phylicia disappeared on the way to the store didn't add up. >> something smelled fishy about that. >> reporter: charles patterson can't help but feel what and who was lost forever. >> i don't think there will ever be an closure. there's something you have to live with the rest of your life. >> reporter: the principal here at union academy almost echoed the words saying she is done and it will be a long time before they can get over what happened here. we first broke the story on our website. there's so much information there tonight, including an interactive timeline that will take you from the early days of her disappearance to today's

news conference. it's all in a special section that you can find at the very top of our home page at abc2news.com. all right. a cloudy day out there and rain at times earl this morning but for now we see the cloud cover with a little bit of clearing toward the frederick and hagerstown area, limited rain on the radar scope. just a couple of showers in garrett county. a quarter of an inch in baltimore sense midnight a third of an earn in annapolis. most spots getting a trace. indian head. temperatures comfortable, mild and humid. right now in the low 60s from baltimore south into fair fa. 60s, cloudy mild and damp. the chance for more rain for part of your weekend. we can tell you which part straight ahead. criminals go to work sites

and they try to steam things they can pawn later on for money. a lot of times they get away. this time things are different. don harrison talked with police about their latest capture. >> reporter: this is a community under construction in lettering lettering -- glen burnie. there are a lot of things on site, things like copper wiring and tubing. >> area recyclers pay a premium for it. >> reporter: last night before 2 a.m. some copper pipes were stolen from the work site. over here is where it was stolen. residents saw the u haul truck. it looked suspicious so they called police. the police didn't see anything. he sat in his car and waited. he saw the u haul come back to

the scene. >> the officer conducted a traffic stop and saw freshly cut pipe in bundles and tools and bolt cutters oar loor police checked some of the newly constructed homes and found copper pipes were mission. the men were arrested -- dean zornes, jr. and charles flood. they were charged with trespassing and theft. >> these people we think are linked to several other cases. detectives are working on different lead there is. >> reporter: in glen burnie, don harrison, abc2 news. >> police are looking for help f you have information call metro crime stoppers at 1-866-7-lockup. some shockingal le gailings tonight against october mom nadya suleman. her hair dresser said suleman and her 14 children are living in horrible conditions. she told the gossip website tmz

that october mom lock octomom locked her children in a room and forced them to use the toilet outside. she explained the toilet inside isn't working. >> i didn't want the kids to go in there so i had the chair up there. >> so it want to lock the kids in? >> no. >> child protective services investigated but didn't find mistreatment. she collectses $4,000 to $5,000 in monthly payments. payments. president obama is ready to

get started and vice-president joe biden is already going after mitt romney. i have today's rapid fire.

a bold crime in florida is caught an tape. surveillance video show's the women, one in a wheelchair waiting by the curb for the bus. you see the suspect wearing a black t shirt, inching in. as the driver extends the wheelchair ramp, he walks up to the sisters, grabs the purposes and then the oth -- purse and then knocking them to the grufnltd the suspect takes off. the women gave a good description. the 19-year-old was later arrested. check this out. five people, san diego, trapped in a car dangling over a deep construction trench. the car crashed and ended up hanging over the trench. construction workers jumped into action to pull them to safety. unfortunately, the driver did not make it. a propane tank exploded in

kansas city sending smoke and flames into the air. one firefighter was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion. the cause of the fire is under investigation tonight. strong winds made quite a bumpy ride for passenger arriving at this airport. the pilot managed to get control of the plane but a number of flights had to be diverted. several special coastal towns were hit with windy weather but there was very little damage. seems like more and more couples are turning to fertility treatments. for one woman that dream cost her her job. why a mom-to-be will not be allowed to teach at one school. we're pointing out the bright spots for college grads. keep it right here. we'll be right back.

the miracle of life comes to different people in different ways. some conceive naturally while others need the help of feater -- fertility treatment. for one woman the catholic school she works for fired her after they learned she was undergoing in vitro fertilization. now she is suing. >> reporter: their quest to become parents conflicted with the school's teaching. she worked at the catholic school in fort wayne, indiana and was fired. she said her attempts to start a family started in 2008 and her boss knew. still, she was called a grave

immoral sinner. >> it's been a very hard thing to come to dprips to because i r--- grips to because i did love my job so much. to have that stripped away from me, but the outpouring of support has been wonderful. >> reporter: she has a 7-year-old but needs ivf because she suffers from a condition that causes infertility. she has filed a federal suit. the diocese said she knew the rules and that they must have a knowledge and respect for the catholic faith and the slaw on their side thanks to a supreme court ruling in january. >> if you're a religious school, you can now terminate any employee you want for any reason even for discriminatory purpose.

>> reporter: still, her attorney feels they have a strong enough case. as far as the treatments, unfortunately, they haven't worked. >> all right. right now take a look. kind of foggy out there, just a little bet of mist in the air. no rain. for the most part most of the rain we will see as already happened. we'll see a few more showers. 63 right now. winds southwest at five. take a lock at maryland's most powerful radar. you can see scattered showers off to the west. decent rain toward pittsburgh. by the time it gets into maryland this will be later, past sunset. so not so sure we'll get much in the way of new rain. there are decent showers to our north and west and eventually they will be tracking toward the

ago heaping and frederick -- hagerstown and frederick area. 63 in ocean city. winds from the south at five miles an hour, so really limited wind. that, plus, extremely high humidity. you can get the patchy fog. eight miles of visibility in salisbury. and isolated spots could see slightly further reduced visibility. so just a word to the wise if you're traveling tonight you could get into the hazy scenario and that could make it tougher to see. keep that in mind. all right. here's the next boundary on the way. the main rain passed to the south moving offshore, just the trailing front that could spark a couple showers in the next four to five hours. after that we'll dry out and get into cooler, sunnier weather that's over indiana and

illinois. that clearer dryer -- drier weather mr. make for a great friday. tonight a hit or miss showers. after 10:00 looks like that goes away. crystal clear on your friday. looking nice. i wish i could tell you this will hold all weekend. we look for a new disturbance, maybe a thunderstorm or two but really the best collapse for rain will come saturday evening has this boundary sinks through the area. we should get back it more clear area on sunday. rain today, clear tomorrow. we'll show you the seven-day. 45. tomorrow your two dprg guarantee. looking pretty nice. don't forget sunglass. on saturday, don't forget umbrella. although we're clear, increasing clouds late and likely to see showers develop as we go into saturday afternoon. a cooler day saturday as well. we may struggle to get out of the mid to upper 50s.

another reversal sunday. we'll bring back sunshine. early indications that temperatures are set to warm up wednesday, thursday into next weekend. so cool for now but we will warm up. >> we look forward to next week. >> it's coming our way. now to our democracy 2012 news. the president is set to kick off his general election campaign and gift vice-president a head start. tory dunnan joins us from washington. so let the games begin. >> kelly, you're right about the fact that the president is going to jump start his reelection campaign next week. on may 5th, he's going to hold a couple of public rallies. ohio and virginia both key swing states and the president won both of the states in 2008. what we're learning about the campaign is they will slowly

ramp up the campaign. >> tell us about vice-president joe biden already taking shots at mitt romney. >> reporter: he gave this speech earlier this morning. he's trying to maintain this sharp contrast between president obama and his republican rival. take a listen to this. >> governor romney, i think is counting on collective amnesia of the american people. america knows we can't go back to the future, back to the foreign policy that would have america go it alone. >> reporter: a cnn/orc poll shows 52% of voters think president obama is better suited to be the commander in chief. you have to compare that to romney's 36%. >> speak of the presumptive

nominee, what is mitt romney up to today? >> reporter: mitt romney is out and about fund-raising. this will be critical for him. he was in new york holding a fund-raising breakfast, about 1,000 donors there. the bot throm line -- bottom line, a source tells us he will bring in about a million dollars within the two-day trip. >> thanks for that live report. jamie? coming up at 6:00, a 6-year-old hit by a dirt bike last night in ball. the latest on his condition and the search for who hit him. a look at a local program keeping kids free. >> also, the arrest made in the phylicia barnes case and re action from her family. we'll she you then.

graduation is just around the corner. a new survey points to brighter spots in a fairly bleak job market. karin caifa takes a look at some of the hot jobs for grads. >> reporter: while the outlook for grads isn't great, it's better than in recent years. 2,000 hiring managers were surveyed. 54% say they plan to hire recent grads this year up from 46% last year. >> i think it's trending in the right direction. we see demand across categories,

but there are a lot of people looking for jobs, so it's probably going to take long tore land a position. >> reporter: the areas where they're most likely to include, information technology, customer sales, service and marketing. college grapeseed shouldn't underestimate the value of their social networking skills. many will maintain a blog. building profiles online, writing a blog, whether a personal blog or commenting on a particular industry or topic, those are things that will work in your favor. >> reporter: as far as starting salaries, the majority of offers will come in under $50,000. i'm karin caifa. you know you get great deals at costco but dead you know you can get a mortgage. they're rolling out a full service mortgage lending

program. they're partnering with first choice and other learneds. they began offering it years ago but the service prior didn't share enough details with its members and now it's starting over with first choice bank. the retailer also offers health and auto insurance and will soon offer student loans. what if you showed up to give berth at the hospital only to be confronted with an unpaid medical bill. we'll tell you about that growing trend at 6:00 with jamie costello which starts right now. the barnes' family reacts to the arrest of the man who killed phylicia. i'm brian kuebler. that story straight ahead. >> you'll hear from the family. they always had their suspicions and what they're saying, 16

months after she disappeared. >> a 6-year-old is at hopkins tonight after getting hit by a dirt bike. you heard about the arrest on abc2news.com. last night an arrest was finally made in the murder of fish -- of phylicia barnes, the north carolina teenager who disappeared here in baltimore in 2010. >> reporter: according to a baltimore city grand jury, this was phylicia's sister's boyfriend of nearly a decade, a manet barnes' family knew to love, trust and consider one of their own. 28-year-old michael maurice johnson was arrested yesterday by a baltimore city grand jury for the murder of teenager phylicia barnes. he was arrested last night without incident and is currently sitting inside the baltimore city detention center,

a day her family has been praying on for 16 months. >> every day i get up and this is what i think about, this day right here when someone is finally brought to justice for the murder of phylicia. >> reporter: that someone is the person this family suspected from day one. johnson was practically part of this family, dated phylicia's sister deanna for 10 years. they went on vacation together, played ball together, trusted him. from the second the barnes' family received the phone call about phylicia's disappearance, they pointed the finger his way. >> everything pointed to him. we already had a feeling. we were waiting to see what the police came up with. >> reporter: while there were plenty of them in the room, very little of their case against johnson was shared with the media. all